


A Candle Is A Small Thing

by badcaseofcasey



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Dex is trying really hard, Hanukkah, M/M, Nursey Has Two Moms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 15:30:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13010733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badcaseofcasey/pseuds/badcaseofcasey
Summary: Prompt for 'Swawesome Santa from somethingsalwayswrong: Nursey's family is Jewish & Muslim. They invite Dex over to spend Hanukkah with them. I just want some good fluff where Dex tries his hardest to be The Good Boyfriend but is totes out of his element.





	A Candle Is A Small Thing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [somethingsalwayswrong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/somethingsalwayswrong/gifts).



> Warning: I'm such a goy and my only knowledge of Hanukkah comes from the Rugrats special and I haven't seen it in years. I tried to research as well as I could, but if I got anything wrong, please let me know!
> 
> Title from Moshe Davis: "A candle is a small thing. But one candle can light another. And see how its own light increases, as a candle gives its flame to the other. You are such a light."
> 
> For somethingsalwayswrong - I hope you like it! 
> 
> Also, thanks to the mods, who either accidentally or on purpose, allowed me to post this during Hanukkah! Happy Hanukkah everybody!

Dex was starting to think this may have been a bad idea. The further they got from campus, the more nervous he got.

“Babe, would you please relax?” Nurse said, taking Dex’s hand in his. “You’ve met my moms before.”

“Yeah, as your teammate,” Dex countered. “They might approve of me being on your team, but it’s a completely different matter to approve of me as your boyfriend.”

“I approve of you, and that’s all they’ll care about.” Nurse brought their hands up to kiss Dex’s.

Dex sighed and squeezed Derek’s hand. “Thank you. I want to make a good impression, though. I want them to like me. I haven’t exactly had the best track record with parents.”

“You will,” Derek said. “You’ve got your most formal button-down on; I know you usually save this one for interviews. I’m honored, really.”

“Shut up,” Dex rolled his eyes and bumped his shoulder against Nursey’s. “All of the other times I’ve met the parents of someone I’m dating, I get all flustered and nervous and I say the wrong thing, or I clam up and they think I’m rude.”

“They’re going to love you,” Nurse said, nudging his shoulder against Dex’s. “You’re already like, leaps and bounds more respectable than any of my other SOs they’ve met. My last boyfriend’s idea of dressing up to meet my moms was to make sure none of his clothes had any visible pot leaves on them, and he still managed to screw that up.”

Dex raised an eyebrow. “The bar must be set pretty low if all I have to do is make sure not to wear any sort of drug paraphernalia.”

“Now he gets it,” Derek said, grinning.

Dex sighed and looked out at the trees rushing by as they sped towards New York City.

Classes had ended the previous week and Dex had agreed to go back home with Nursey for the first day of Hanukkah. Dex didn’t have a final until the 15th and all of Nursey’s finals were take-home or papers, so they could travel back to New York together. Dex would have to leave the next day, but the trip wasn’t too long, and he could study on the train back.

No, it wasn’t finals that were making Dex nervous. It was the fact that he had literally never attended a Hanukkah celebration, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

He had grown up in a relatively small town, especially compared to New York City, and there had only been one family growing up that he even knew was Jewish, and they hadn’t been so close that he had ever been invited over during the holidays. Derek had promised that he would walk him through everything, that nothing was too difficult to follow, and that neither he nor his moms would be offended if Dex didn’t memorize the Hebrew prayers that went along with lighting the menorah, but it was something he had wanted to do for Nursey.

Dex started to mentally rehearse the Hebrew he had took the time to memorize as he stared out the window. He and Nursey had spent so much time misunderstanding each other and messing this up; this was one thing he wanted to be perfect.

___

Of course, since Dex is Dex, and this is his life, the whole thing is a disaster.

He swung the door to the guest room behind him and collapsed on the bed, having excused himself politely to dwell in his shame and embarrassment in peace.

Nursey’s mom had offered to let him light the candles, which he knew was a big deal and had _not_ anticipated. He had spent all of his time memorizing Hebrew and had no idea that he wasn’t supposed to light more than the shamash with a match. Growing up, the closest thing they had done had been lighting an advent wreath, and you always just lit the whole thing with matches. So not only had he almost ruined lighting the menorah, but he had been so nervous that he had mangled the prayers that he had been so convinced he would get perfect. They had finished the prayers and Nursey’s mom had complimented him and thanked him for joining them, but he knew they were just being nice.

This was the one thing that Dex had wanted to get perfect, something he could do for Nursey that would show how much he meant to him, how much this relationship meant to him. Instead, he had looked like an idiot in front of Nursey’s moms and it seemed like he hadn’t even cared

enough to learn a few prayers.

Nursey knocked lightly and opened the door slowly. “Dex?”

Dex just groaned into the pillow which he was currently using to try and suffocate himself.

“Dex, come on, it wasn’t that bad,” Nurse said, moving to sit next to Dex on the bed. “My moms thought it was awesome that you tried to learn the prayers. I told them that they shouldn’t have had you light the candles; I know you don’t handle sudden changes like that well.”

Dex rolled over and glared at Nursey. “But I _did_ know the prayers. I had been practicing them for weeks. I was just so- so flustered after fucking up the candles that I couldn’t remember any of what I had learned.”

“Dex, I told you before,” Nurse said, leaning to rest his forehead on Dex’s, “it doesn’t matter to me if you learned the prayers or anything. It just means a lot that you’re here, meeting my moms for the first time as my boyfriend. That’s the important part.”

“I _wanted_ to get the prayers right, though,” Dex said, sitting up and scooting away from Nurse’s warm embrace. “I know how much you’ve had to do your whole life to try and fit in wherever you go because of people who don’t like or understand who you are; just for tonight, I wanted to be the one who had to work to fit into your world.”

“Babe,” Derek said. “You didn’t screw anything up; menorah’s lit, we have latkes and our first night presents to look forward to. My moms got you something, too, because they knew you were coming to visit.”

“They didn’t have to do that,” Dex grumbled.  
“They wanted to,” Derek said, scooting to sit up against the wall next to Dex. “And besides, first night presents are never big. We normally do just little stuff except for the last night. They probably just got us both gelt.”

Dex just groaned again and leaned his head on Nursey’s shoulder, pulling the pillow in tight to his chest.

“Come on; let’s go downstairs,” Nursey said. “You look like you could use some chocolate.”

“I know what gelt is,” Dex grumbled, but put the pillow back on the bed and turned to look at Nursey.

“I know you do,” Nursey said, smirking. “I also know you know those prayers backwards and forwards.”

Dex caught up with Nursey and looked at him, shocked. “How?”

“Because you can literally say them in your sleep,” Nurse said, eyes glinting with mirth. He leaned down to give him a tender kiss, his hand cupping Dex’ cheek fondly. “And we share a bedroom - sometimes even a bed.”

Before Dex could figure out how to respond, Derek was off the bed and heading downstairs.

“You asshole!” Dex yelled after him, Nurse’s answering laugh echoing around the landing.

Dex hopped off the bed and rushed to follow Nursey. He knew how much Derek could eat, and if he wanted a chance to try Nurse’s mom’s famous latkes, he was going to have to get there first.

___

By the time Dex had to leave for his train, he was sorry to go. The rest of the night had been comfortable and warm, and he had enjoyed having Nursey and his moms introduce him to all the jewish food they eat over Hanukkah. He and Nursey had cuddled up next to the fireplace and watched the Rugrats Hanukkah special, as was tradition in the Nurse household.

The whole night had felt so nice; he had never felt so comfortable around someone else’s family, but Nurse’s moms had been so welcoming, and they had actually gotten him gelt to celebrate the first night.

Dex said goodbye to Nursey with the promise to text as soon as he got on the train, and to keep in touch over the next few weeks. Derek was supposed to come visit in January and they would drive down to Samwell together, since Nurse still didn’t have a car.

Latkes tucked under the seat, Dex was pulling out his laptop to get some studying done when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

_Moms loved you - want to know when you can come back to visit_

Dex smiled and tried to ignore how much his heart swelled. Before he could finish typing his response, his phone buzzed again.

_They gave you the rest of the latkes, you motherfucker. How could you?_

Dex snorted. _Guess I’ll toss some in the freezer so you can have some when you come to visit_.

_If you’re trying to make me miss you more… it’s working._

_I see, you’re only in it for the food._

_Duh, why else does anyone date anybody?_

Dex smiled and sent a heart back (an unfortunate side effect of dating Derek Nurse was emojis becoming a part of his life) and tucked his phone back into his jacket pocket.

As he waited on his notes to open, he caught a quick glimpse of he and Nursey lighting a menorah together in their home, sometime in the future. It was way too early in the relationship to even consider the future, but, Dex figured, maybe he should make a point to mark the rest of the jewish holidays into his calendar so he can make sure that Nurse could celebrate properly. He was pretty sure he could get Nurse’s mom to ship them some latkes if he asked.


End file.
